police

A forum Thursday evening peering into Ferguson’s longstanding tensions as well as the St. Louis region’s racial divisions became angry and heated, with most of a crowd’s ire directed at the town’s mayor.

Audience members expressed searing criticism of Ferguson’s governance and leadership, both of which have come under fire since one of the Ferguson's police officers shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

A federal lawsuit alleges that police in Ferguson and St. Louis County used excessive force and falsely arrested innocent bystanders amid attempts to quell widespread unrest after the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has nominated former St. Louis Police Chief Dan Isom to be the state’s new public-safety director, a move that will put Isom in charge of a number of diverse state agencies – from the Highway Patrol to the Gaming Commission.

Isom served 24 years on the St. Louis police force, and retired as chief 18 months ago. He holds doctoral degrees in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he has served as a professor for the past year.

Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a Ferguson police officer placed St. Louis in an international spotlight. In the past week, the region experienced a torrent of anger, unrest, violence and sorrow.

The 18-year-old’s death positioned the world’s camera lens on riveting images of looting, protesting and overwhelming force from law enforcement. Derrick Robinson, the bishop at Kingdom Destiny Fellowship International, contends there’s a longstanding tension within the soul of St. Louis.

In a press conference Friday morning, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson identified the officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Saturday as Darren Wilson. Jackson said Wilson has been with the police department for 6 years and had no record of disciplinary action. He also said Wilson was treated for injuries Saturday.

The sound of honking horns became a symbol Thursday night along West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson.

It was the first night since Saturday -- the day Michael Brown was shot to death by a Ferguson police officer -- that traffic had been allowed to move freely along one of the main commercial strips in Ferguson. There was no line of police in riot gear and armored vehicles facing off against a crowd. The few officers spotted were in regular uniforms. The atmosphere felt more like a party than a protest.

For 120 years, Ferguson, Mo. -- currently home to 21,203 people -- has been a little city that has grown in good times and evolved in hard times, with little attention from folks outside the St. Louis region.

That changed in a flash of gunfire last Saturday when a Ferguson police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an African-American 18-year-old who was unarmed.

As of Thursday, the Missouri Highway Patrol is now in charge in Ferguson. And Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who announced the change, said at a news conference that the public should see a difference at once.

The St. Louis County police have been widely criticized for their aggressive, even militaristic stance -- using armored vehicles and tear gas -- to quell protests stemming from last Saturday's police shooting.

When Antonio French noticed social media activity bubbling up about Michael Brown’s shooting death last weekend, the St. Louis alderman got in his car and drove to Ferguson.

What he said he saw was striking: Police from neighboring municipalities had formed a “human shield” around the scene. Lesley McSpadden, Brown’s mother, was screaming and crying over not knowing what happened to her 18-year-old son. And Brown’s body was still in the street after being shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer.

The chief of the St. Louis County Police says a black teenager fatally shot by officers Saturday was killed during an altercation with authorities.

But as Chief Jon Belmar was speaking at a news conference Sunday morning, a few hundred angry protesters carrying signs converged on the police station taunting police with chants of "Don't shoot me," according to The Associated Press.

Two bills to further protect on duty officers are currently awaiting Gov. Jay Nixon's signature. The Columbia Police Officers' Association has supported legislation that would make it a felony to disarm a law enforcement agent of any weapon, not simply their handgun.

The Columbia Police Department is still investigating how the bicyclist on I-70 was struck and killed. Officials told KBIA they are currently waiting for DNA testing from the vehicle they said was involved in the accident. In a press release the department also believes they have located the driver involved in the accident.

Officers found the human remains near the mile marker 130 on I-70 -- after several drivers reported seeing the remains.

Some union members are pushing St. Louis police leadership to buy more powerful guns to replace the 9 mm semi-automatic weapons officers have been carrying for more than a decade.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the police department has set aside $1.4 million to buy new pistols for the department's roughly 1,300 officers. Beretta has stopped making the 9 mm handguns, and the Police Officers' Association wants them to be replaced with .40-caliber pistols.

A St. Louis senator is making a fourth attempt at raising fines for seat belt violations.

Democratic Sen. Joe Keaveny wants to increase the fine from $10 to $50 for people caught not wearing seat belts in vehicles. His bill was to be heard Wednesday by a Senate committee, marking the fourth consecutive year that he has presented it.

The percentage of people using seat belts in Missouri lags behind the national average. Keaveny hopes a higher fine would encourage more people to buckle up.

An annual report released Friday by the attorney general found black drivers were 72 percent more likely than white motorists to be pulled over in 2011. Black drivers were stopped 2.5 times more often than Hispanic drivers.

The report compares racial characteristics of Missouri's driving-age population to the racial composition of drivers in the roughly 1.7 million traffic stops, 129,000 searches and 81,000 arrests.

The city of Columbia is spending $45,000 to conduct an outside review of its police department. This comes after a year in which the department has seen a host of issues, including the firing of officer Rob Sanders, as well as dueling local groups focusing on Chief Ken Burton.